Booth Id:
EAEV075I
Category:
Year:
2015
Finalist Names:
Marks, Taylor
Abstract:
Just hearing the word “cancer” can strike fear into anyone. The everyday constant worry about doing, eating, or drinking something that may end up giving you cancer is quite enough of a battle. When you combine that with the thought that companies may be loosely emitting toxins into your environment and increasing your chances of cancer by great amounts, it can be quite disturbing. There is an area in southern Louisiana where just such a circumstance is occurring. The river parishes located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana which some call “Cancer Alley,” are considered to be one of the most polluted areas in the United States. There are a multitude of refineries and petrochemical plants clustered into this one area which is of great concern to many that the extreme toxin releases may be the cause of such high circumstances of cancer in this area.
It is the hypothesis of the examiner that there will be a correlation between the toxins emitted by the industrial plants in “Cancer Alley,” and the occurrences of cancer in the inhabitants of the area.
The examiner will utilize the internet and federal and local health organizations for needed raw data. Microsoft Excel will be used to help organize and analyze the data. Formulas used will be sum, average, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation. The data will be analyzed as both raw data and normalized data. The results will be charted and a conclusion will be drawn.